DRAFT DODGING.(Wesley Clark at Oxonian Society meeting)

Wesley Clark, the former nato commander and current noncommittal Presidential candidate, may not be able to cry on demand, as John Kerry seemed to do the other day during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, but he does a mean dictator impression. Last week, for instance, during an appearance at N.Y.U., he reminisced at length about his diplomatic dealings with Slobodan Milosevic. "We would talk about things," Clark told the audience. "He'd say, 'General Clark, how is your family?' And I'd say, 'Well, my family's fine. How is your family, Mr. President?' " Clark switched accents, from Arkansan to Slobodan. " 'Is problem,' " he growled. " 'You know my daughter is not with husband anymore. Is difficult. My son, he is race-car driver in Greece. He's very popular young man. And is difficult for his mother not to worry about him.' "

General Clark was speaking as a guest of the Wagner School for Public Service and of the Oxonian Society, a fledgling organization devoted to serving "graduates and supporters of Oxford University living in the tri-state area," of whom there are apparently several thousand. Prior to his address, Clark, who attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar back in 1966, mingled with two or three dozen Society members at a makeshift cocktail party outside the auditorium. "Hi, I'm Wes Clark," he said as he shook hands and locked eyes with each person. "What college were you at?" As often as not, the answer turned out to be M.I.T. or Wharton, instead of Queen's or All Souls, prompting Clark to ask, "So what makes you an Oxonian?" and "You're not from Oxford, either?" The Society, he was told, welcomes Ivy Leaguers and other similarly enterprising New Yorkers. ("I see, so it's not too snobby," Clark said.)

Earlier that day, Clark had announced for the first time that he was a Democrat, and now he seemed to be trying out some fresh campaign patter. "Seriously, how are we going to get new jobs in Cleveland?" he asked. "Young people used to want to be something. Now I'm afraid it's not the case. What are we going to do about that?"

"What did you want to be?" a young man with a British accent--an authentic Oxonian--asked.

"I wanted to be an astronaut," Clark said. "That was back when we had a real space program. We all wanted to invade the red planet, right ...